Pregnancy Rights Law Reinstated

A federal appeals court in San Francisco today reinstated California’s law guaranteeing pregnant women four months pregnancy leave and return to their jobs, overturning a Los Angeles judge’s decision that the law discriminated against men.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the earlier decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real that the state law was discriminatory toward men “defies common sense, misinterprets case law and flouts” federal statutes. Central figure in the case is Lillian Garland, who was a PBX operator and receptionist working for California Federal Savings & Loan Assn. when she took four months pregnancy leave in 1982. When she tried to be reinstated to the same or similar job, Cal Fed turned her down.

The state Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a complaint on behalf of Garland against California Federal. Cal Fed, joined by the Merchants and Manufacturers Assn. and the California Chamber of Commerce, took the case to federal court, where Real ruled in their favor a year ago.

Judge Warren J. Ferguson, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, stated today that providing benefits for a condition “unique to women” does not discriminate against men but rather is a legal method of guaranteeing equal job opportunities for women.